Televised today on ESPN, and streamed live on ESPN3 on November 18 (see November 5 entry), a big congratulations to Liz Johnson for winning her first PBA title, the Chameleon Championship,
The Chameleon Championship was the 2nd of 7 tournaments in PBA's World Series of Bowling at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada.
2017 has been a terrific year for Liz. She won her 4th consecutive PWBA US Open title (see August 6, 2017 entry). She had to battle way up the stepladder as the 5th seed to defeat 4 bowlers to do it.
Kelly Kulick was the last female to win a PBA title (Tournament of Champions) in 2010. She defeated Chris Barnes, 265-195.
It seems nearly every time PBA announces a tournament winner on Facebook, there is a litany of complaints that the tournaments should be televised live.
As I said in my February 7, 2016 entry, I'll put it gently. The 20th century ended 15 years ago. There are too many other sports venues with larger markets where bowling cannot compete. Not going to happen.
Suggestion: Wait a week or so and watch it on PBA's YouTube channel. Nearly all the televised matches can be found there.
Or, subscribe to xtraframe. Yes, it will cost money. If you're that much of a bowling enthusiast, then it's as much value as a Hulu or Netflix subscription.
I'll close with thoughts on men who comment about opening PWBA events to men for equality's sake.
My rebuttal: it isn't equality.
It's why you don't see men playing women's volleyball, basketball, hockey, or sports. In other words, most women physically cannot match in size and strength to men.
However, when a woman like Kelly or Liz does win, are you threatened by the idea she is better than you?
Below is video of the match. If you watch to the end, you'll see how happy Wes Malott and Anthony Pepe are to see Liz win.
To pick up from last week's Gutter Bowler's awesome YouTube bowling videos of the 2017 World Bowling Championships, check out the meticulous editing on split conversions.
As the video is 9 minutes long, this should give you an idea of how many splits were bowled under tough lane conditions (39 foot Beijing).
source: Bowl.com
Bottom Row: L to R: Tommy Jones, Jakob Butturff, Chris Via
Top Row: L to R: Chris Barnes, AJ Johnson, Marshall Kent
source: bowlingdigital.com
Chinese Taipei Men's Team, silver medalists
Congratulations to Team USA, Men's for their gold medal versus Chinese Taipei.
Chinese Taipei is known for their unique spinner style. It is not without its critics, and rather harsh ones. Below is YouTube's Gutter Bowler's video:
If you have some time, take a few minutes to read the comments on the YouTube page.
Fear, ignorance, and most of all, ethnocentrism is alive and well.
UPDATE: 8 December 2017
Thankfully, the vitriolic comments posted last week have been taken down.
